Monday, May 17, 2010

A Little Bit Of Everything

Thick Crust. Chewy Interior. I'm talking about No-Knead Bread. I've made this before with rosemary and lemon, but this time I made it with everyone's favorite bagel topping- Everything Spice Blend. It's a combination of garlic, onion, salt, poppy and sesame seeds. This flavors the inside of the bread as well as the top.

This bread was delicious and hearty. It was aromatic and all the different goodies on top give it character. If you've never made no-knead bread, you must. It's very simple and there's minimal effort involved, you just have to plan for it. This recipe takes several hours to complete, but you can throw all the ingredients into a bowl before you go to bed and finish it up the next day. You stir it once, fold it over it's self a few times and let it rest and rise. That's when all those magical bubbles form.

And I baked it in my brand new Le Creuset! I've wanted one for a long time but I refused to pay hundreds of dollars for it. I don't care how good it works, who has that kind of money to blow on a pot? I found this beauty at Tuesday Morning for a third of the price. It's a discontinued color, which I LOVE, and it has a tiny imperfection on the inside so I got an extra discount on it. It's 4.5 qts and retails for about $230, but I got this one for $102. A steal and a gift to myself.

I'd like to dedicate this loaf to my dear friend Janet of From Captain's Daughter To Army Mom. Ever since I told her I made this a couple weeks ago, she's been wanting to see it. Janet, I know you're a big fan of No Knead Bread and you've made it several times, so this is for you! I hope you'll add it to your bread repertoire.

On another note, I finally figured out how to do collages! A few days ago Laura of Hey Mom What's For Dinner? shared with us how to make a header using different pictures. At first I wasn't so interested in creating a new header, then I went to Picnik.com and got hooked! Not only can you make headers, but you can make collages and edit photos. And it's FREE, all you have to do is sign up at Picnik.com. Thanks Laura for showing how easy it is. I made myself a new header and well as for Ingrid- go check it out!

1. In a large bowl combine flour, yeast, salt and 1 Tbsp. Everything Spice. Add water and stir until blended; dough will be shaggy and sticky. Cover bowl with plastic wrap. Let dough rest at least 12 hours, preferably about 18, at warm room temperature, about 70 degrees.

2. Dough is ready when its surface is dotted with bubbles. Lightly flour a work surface and place dough on it; sprinkle it with a little more flour and fold it over on itself once or twice. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and let rest about 15 minutes.

3. Using just enough flour to keep dough from sticking to work surface or to your fingers, gently and quickly shape dough into a ball. Generously coat a cotton towel (not terry cloth) with flour, wheat bran or cornmeal; put dough seam side down on towel and dust with more flour, bran or cornmeal. Cover with another cotton towel and let rise for about 2 hours. When it is ready, dough will be more than double in size and will not readily spring back when poked with a finger.

4. At least a half-hour before dough is ready, heat oven to 450 degrees. Put a 5- to 8-quart heavy covered pot (cast iron, enamel, Pyrex or ceramic) in oven as it heats. When dough is ready, carefully remove pot from oven. Slide your hand under towel and turn dough over into pot, seam side up; it may look like a mess, but that is O.K. Shake pan once or twice if dough is unevenly distributed; it will straighten out as it bakes. Spritz or brush the top of the dough with water then sprinkle on remaining 1 Tbsp. Everything Spice. Cover with lid and bake 30 minutes, then remove lid and bake another 15 to 30 minutes, until loaf is beautifully browned. Cool on a rack.

For whatever reason, I just don't make bread...think it's a fear of yeast...well I think you just inspired me.Oh and gotta tell you my sister, a few friends and I were at an invitation only once a year sell off a QVC kitchen broker and my sister picked up the same pot in Blue for $25.00...can you imagine!!She like you is a happy, happy gal!My prize purchase that day was and $8.00 old fashioned manual juicer (the big one like you would find in a bar) which I use all the time!

Love the header and LOVE picnik. That's how I do my headers too and where I do all my photo editing since I don't have any fancy-schmancy programs for that. It's easy and they have SO much to offer. Sorry for not telling you about it earlier, but I'm glad someone did!!!

Your bread looks wonderful. Enjoy that Le Creuset. I'm lucky enough to have two--there's an outlet near my parents, and I LOVE them. I also have a Macy's brand knock off, and I've learned Le Creuset is worth the difference.

WOW! First of all, thank you for the mention... I have been tapping my toes over here for quite a while, ha ha!

Second of all... AH-Mazing! I am speechless and the pesto/muenster just put me RIGHT OVER THE EDGE!

I made my own Pesto two years ago and was SO sad last year when my hubby's garden didn't yeild enough for me to make it again. This year though, there are EIGHT basil plants going gangbusters so there WILL be pesto in my freezer again!

Any way... Thank YOU for posting this recipe (finally! ha ha) and again, well done and well deserved on the LeCreuset! So jealous...

Had I known you were baking this up, I would have insisted on stopping by while we were in Texas. We love, love, love freshly baked crusty bread. Yours, with the right amount of "holes" looks delicious as is. Add the pesto and cheese and it becomes a work of art. Isn't it fun to find a real "find". I agree, the color is great. I have an apricot Le Creuset oval dutch oven that I got dirt cheap because the color had been discontinued. And, the bigger the pot, the more of a workout one gets--hence, one can eat more bread!

How funny! The second I saw this bread I realized that I can make it now that I have a dutch oven!

I found Le Creuset at Tuesday Morning here too but still couldn't talk myself into it. Plus I swear it is more here and not as lovely a color! Anyway, I broke down and bought an Lodge one, and 2cast iron skillets.

1. The header looks great!!! Good job! I made my header through photoshop; I didn't know you could do it through picnik. That's great. I love that it is smaller than the previous photo. Now I can see what you've posted without having to scroll down as much.

2. The bread looks AMAZING!! I'm not crazy about no-knead bread b/c it never looks like the knead version in my opinion. However your bread has changed my point of view. It looks absolutely perfect. I love that you added spices to the dough and the crust. The crumb is perfect, Monica. Good job.

3. Your new pot is fantastic!! I guess you don't love me anymore (lol) b/c you didn't take me with you to the store. I would have loved to have been there with you when you got this. It looks great!! I'm going to use my pot for this bread.

This is one of our favorite breads. I have to say I cheat and don't let it rise for the full 18 hours, sometimes it only 7 hours and it still comes out fantastic. I'll have to try it with the everything spice, it looks to good.Mimi

I can't believe you didn't know about Picnik! You're such a good photographer. I've been using it for years and its recently been acquired by Google. I used it to make my (not as nice as yours) header. It's worth it to pay the $25 to upgrade to premium.

I didn't know Texans are familiar with everything bagels! I always thought that was a Northeast thing. Aren't they the best? I like mine toasted and topped with American cheese.

I love this post! First, the bread is lovely and I've been wanting to make this recipe for ages! Next, I've been using Picnik for over a year, and I love it. Last, but not least, thank you so much for sharing this seed blend. It's mine, now! I want to make bagels, and this would be perfect. You're a doll, and so talented. Have fun with collages. They make sharing photos a lot of fun.xoxo

Anonymous- I used flour this time bacause I didn't want the texture of the bran or cornmeal interfering with the seeds on top of the bread. You can see in the first collage that I used (plenty) of flour. But on order for the seeds to stick to the top I had to brush it with water that's why you don't see the excess flour. In the first photo you can see the flour on the underside of the loaf.

Thank you soooo much for the flour tip and posting this seeded addition of NKB. Believe it or not, I had never heard of this bread until last week when I made it with oat bran and no seeds. It was yummy but this was delicious.

I recently found you blog and love it so much. I'm usually holding myself back from licking the computer screen. ;)Thanks for a great blog.I left you a little something on mine.www.sadieskitchen.blogspot.com

This bread makes my mouth water!!! I am envious of your new pot!! Is your pot large enough to cook this bread in? The recipe calls for at least 5 qt pot. Wish I could find a deal like you got. Love your blog....

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Welcome To My Blog

My name is Monica and I'm a stay at home mom living in central Texas. I like to cook, but baking is my passion. I am an (obsessive) collector of cake stands, cookbooks and bakeware. I make lots of yummy treats and often share my sweet creations with friends, family and anyone else who is willing to be my guinea pig. I have lots of recipes in the archives so I hope you'll stick around for awhile!

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